Santa Barbara County pre-approved ADU plans

On April 2, 2026, Santa Barbara County launched a free pre-approved ADU plan program, giving homeowners in unincorporated areas downloadable building plans that have already been reviewed for code compliance. It removes one of the biggest hurdles at the front of an ADU project: the cost and the weeks that custom architectural drawings take.

What are pre-approved ADU plans?

They are standardised architectural blueprints the county has already reviewed and approved for building code compliance. Instead of commissioning a custom design, which typically runs $10,000 to $30,000 and takes weeks, a homeowner can download the plans at no cost and submit them with a building permit application.

Because the plans have already passed code review, permitting is faster, and the county offers reduced building fees where the plans are used without modification.

What plans are available?

Four floor plans, each offered in a modern and a traditional style:

Studio

480 sq ft

One bedroom

672 sq ft

Two or three bedroom

768 sq ft

Two bedroom

909 sq ft

The plans are downloadable from Santa Barbara County Planning and Development.

Who can use the pre-approved plans?

This is the detail that catches people out. The plans are available only for properties in unincorporated Santa Barbara County. Parts of Montecito, Hope Ranch and rural county areas qualify. Properties inside the city limits of Santa Barbara, Goleta or Carpinteria do not.

The City of Santa Barbara runs its own separate pre-approved program with different plan options. If you are unsure which jurisdiction a property sits in, the county Planning Department or your contractor can confirm it, and it is worth confirming before anything else, because it decides which rules apply. See ADU permitting in Santa Barbara for how the jurisdictions differ.

What do pre-approved plans not cover?

They save the design phase. They do not replace the rest of it:

• A building permit: the plans are pre-approved for code compliance, but they are still submitted with an application for your specific property.
• Site specific engineering: foundation design, grading and utility connections all depend on the lot. A soils report or structural engineering may be required.
• A Coastal Development Permit: required separately if the property is in the Coastal Zone, whichever plans are used. Under AB 462 these must now be processed within 60 days.
• A licensed general contractor: the plans say what to build. Someone still has to manage the permits, the subcontractors, the inspections and the construction.

Pre-approved or custom plans?

Pre-approved plans are the right call when:

• One of the four layouts genuinely fits the property and the brief
• Minimising upfront design cost matters
• A faster permitting timeline matters
• The lot is straightforward

Custom drawings make more sense when:

• The lot has real constraints: steep slope, tight setbacks, an irregular shape
• The unit needs to match the architecture of the main house
• The size or layout is not covered by the four options
• Finish level and detailing need to be resolved in the design rather than later

The construction is the same either way. What decides whether the project runs to time and to budget is the builder, not the drawings.

How much do pre-approved ADU plans save?

The direct saving is the architectural design fee, which in Santa Barbara County typically runs $10,000 to $30,000 for a custom ADU. The county also reduces building fees where its pre-approved plans are used without modification, and because the plans have already cleared code review, the plan check is shorter and less likely to come back with corrections.

The saving that is easier to miss is time. Weeks of design, and the correction cycles that custom drawings can attract, are the part of an ADU schedule that is hardest to predict. Removing them at the front of the project is worth more on most timelines than the fee itself.

How we work with the county plans

Whether you take a pre-approved plan or go fully custom, DHRH Construction handles the ADU build in Santa Barbara, Montecito and Hope Ranch end to end:

• Property feasibility: which jurisdiction the parcel sits in, whether the pre-approved plans are available to it, and which of the four layouts the lot can physically take once setbacks, trees and slope are accounted for.
• Site specific engineering: foundation, grading, drainage and utility connections, which the county plans deliberately leave to your lot.
• Permitting: the submission, the corrections and the inspections, including a Coastal Development Permit where the property is in the Coastal Zone.
• Construction: one team from the first drawings to the last punch item, with cost and schedule reported weekly in writing.

If you are not sure whether your property is in the city or in unincorporated Santa Barbara County, that is the first question worth answering, and it is answerable in a phone call. ADU permitting in Santa Barbara covers how the jurisdictions differ and what each one requires.

Thinking about a guest house or an ADU on your property? Start a conversation. We walk the property, then put a real scope, an honest range and a realistic timeline in writing.